Talk:Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst

Title and context
Please get the title spelling right You've used three variations. Is it Yangtze, Yangtse or Yangste. I don't think it is the last one. Need lots of context in the article. Is it fiction? Is it an Australian film or a Mozambiquan film or a Bolivian film? The first sentence should clear all that up. Hu 10:00, 29 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Regarding the spelling, "Yangtse" is used in the title of the film and the book it is based upon, and in most official British records at the time. However "Yangtze" is the accepted spelling now, although it was also in use at the time. In fact, the clasp to the appropriate service medal has it as such. Ultimately, "Yangtse" should only be used when referring to the titles in which it appears, while for everything else - including the description of events - should be "Yangtze". Nick Cooper 18:26, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Tense
I converted it from present tense to past tense when it was lacking context and when the title did not mention a film. Use past tense for history, which the stub seemed to be. However, if you are writing a plot summary it might be appropriate in that section to use a variety of present tense. Hu 10:03, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

I was in the process of still editing this page when you jumped in, if you'd allowed me more time the article would have come together instead of the "dogs dinner" you've now created Bescotbeast 10:27, 29 December 2006

Simon
The current cast list claims that the Amethyst's cat, Simon was played by "Simon II," which was the name given to Simon's replacement as ship's cat after he died in 1949. However, by the time the film was made, Amethyst was on the eve of scrapping, and her crew had long been disbanded. In fact, in his own account of the filming, which appeared in the Naval Review of January 1957, Kerans stated:
 * "In addition to what has already been mentioned, [HMS] Ganges allowed her 27-year-old pinnace to be suitably overpainted in Chinese characters. Her Captain's P.O. Cook lent his cat to the company; unfortunately, it was run over by a car and subsequently died."

Were the cat in question Simon II - which seems highly unlikely in itself - Kerans would surely have been more specific. It seems that the identification of the cat in the film as Simon II is mere unfounded supposition, so I will remove it. Nick Cooper (talk) 11:12, 8 June 2024 (UTC)